Alarming package found at West Philly High

A PACKAGE containing swastikas, news headlines about the Newtown, Conn., school massacre and a racially charged threat was found Wednesday at West Philadelphia High School.

A police spokeswoman said members of the department's Bomb Squad Unit were sent to the school, at 49th and Chestnut streets, when the package was discovered about 8:40 a.m.

No devices were found inside the package, but a note said that people at the school "are gonna get it."

Fernando Gallard, a spokesman for the School District of Philadelphia, said that police determined that there was no actual threat to the school.

The school wasn't evacuated, and classes weren't affected.

Gallard said he was unaware of any other threats against a city school.

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Tensions are still high at countless schools in the aftermath of the Dec. 14 shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary - and, in some cases, possibly for good reason.

A 16-year-old student from Cedar Creek High School in Galloway Township, N.J., was charged with possession of a weapon and an explosive device after authorities found potentially volatile material in his home on Tuesday.

The student was pulled from class after exhibiting odd behavior. The teen made no threats, and wasn't deemed to be a threat to his school.

But when police searched his home, they found electronic parts and chemicals that could have been explosive in the right combination.

The teen was placed in a youth-detention center. Bomb-sniffing dogs were taken to the school, but found nothing suspicious.